Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-05-11
BAKU'S FOUNTAINS.
THE PERSIAN RIVAL OF PENNSYL-
vANlA'S PETROLEUM FIELDS.

Shipping Ghebres-TweIve Thousand
Square Miles of Oil Region.
The great town of Baku has now q
coast line of about six miles, sweeping
around well protected harbor crowded
with shipping-ships Of all tonnage, all
fitted with tanks to store the oil that
pours from hundred fountains. From
time immemorial this spot has been
deemed sacred by the Ghebres of Persia,
who recognize in the flame of the native
naphtha a sacred fire symbol. Here for at
least 2, GOO years tho sacred earth fed flame
has burned increasingly, and the temple
of Surukhani has been a center of rever-
ent pilgrimage. This native naphtha flows
from the soil in so pure a form as TO burn
without rectification, and is, indeed, SO in
fiammable that the naphtha gas occas-
ionally ignites spontaneously and plays
in pale flames above assures in the rock.
On stormy nights these flames have been
seen to blaze up with an awful spirit
light which, to the eyes of the Ghebres,
invested the spot with special sanctity-a
sanctity intensified by the fact that here,
according to Arabian chroniclers, q great
volcanic mountain was in full action till
500 years ago. Since then the thermal
forces have expended their energies ON
spouting oil and Herewith saturating the
desert plain of the Aspheros peninsula;
and truly more repulsive site for a great
city could not well be found
II is plain about fifteen miles in width
and projecting thirty miles into the Cas-
plan from the point where the Caucasus
terminates on its shores. The whole sur
face of the ground is black with waste
petroleum, which in cold weather harJlens
to the consistency of asphalt, whereas be-
meath the blazing midsummer sun the
foot sinks in to the depth of two or three
inches. Every breath of wind raises
binding clouds of black, bituminous dust,
formed by the coarse black naphtha with
which the streets are periodically ''wa-
tered, y true water being too precious to
be thus wasted. This dust, combined
with the dense smoke poured from the
chimneys of somewhere about 800 refin-
ing factories, does nothing to improve ttiile
atmosphere. And here, day and night
the oil fountains pour forth their hideous
black streams. They yield an average of
from % to 80 per cent. of pure OIL and
from 20 to 30 per cent. of refuse, which
makes excellent fuel for the great fleets
Of oil steamers and locomotives. The
supply may well be deemed inexhaustible
inasmuch as 10000 square miles in this
region are found to be oleiferous, and of
this vast surface only six miles have as
yet been developed The oil bearing
stratum extends beneath the Caspian,
where it crops up in Tehelil1an, a true isle
of oil. Here the oil literally streams into
the sea from hills and cliffs, which may be
said to be formed of ozokerite-in other
words, of crude parafIine. On the eastern
shore Of the Caspian it reappears at various
fTt for. i41of NJ ha of
Naphtha hill, where the deposits are of
ficially valued at e35, coo, 600.
THE FIRE GIANTS SPORT.
Now, the fire giant who tends the great
laboratory beneath the Caspian seems to
emulate the example of his brethren in
New Zealand and Tonga Hitherto he has
been satisfied with such sport as turning
ON such an oil stream as that which gushed
forth three years ago from one Of the
Balu springs, spouting with such force as
to break to pieces q three inch cast iron
pipe which had been fastened over the
well in order to divert the flow to diff
ferent direction. A neighboring oil spring,
on being tapped, threw up column of
petroleum to twice the height of the
Great Geyser in Iceland, forming a huge
black fountain 200 feet in height-a foun-
tain, however, attributed solely to the re-
moyal of the pressure on the confined gas,
as there is no pcrceptible heat in these
geysers. 1t was visible for many miles
around, and on tho first day it poured
forth about 10000 barrels, and, with
gradually diminishing volume, continued
to play for five months, when it finally
subsided, leaving lis unfortunate owners
ian Armenian company well nigh ruined
by the Claims brought i.gainst it by neigh
bors whose lands were destroyed by the
Gil food.
On t.io nien5 Of tho 18th Of January
TIC inhabitants CT Baku were awakened
by O violent shock, which caused all the
windows to rattle, end suddenly the dark
ness Of the night was illuminated by an
intense Light, a5 though the city were
aflaInc. 1t proved, however, to be the
reflection on the heavens Of q great fire
at distance; but no one dreamt that It's
locality lay within tho earth. Nor was
this realized iii the following night, when
t-.e Same awfEI glare became visible; and
shortly before midnight q terrible explo-
sion was heard, followed by vast column
Of naule. apparently $50 feet in height,
which slsot up from the summit Of Lok
Bata1 lose TO the Ponta railway station.
It wac calm night, with scarcely a
breath cI Wind, 80 the flames continued
TO ascend quite vertically, carrying l1rge
masses Of dark matter, which fell back
into the crater Considerable heat was
felt at the distance OF fully mile, and
the whole country yyas lighted by glare
brighter than that OF the sun at MONDAY.
This lasted for about thirty hours, but
not continuously, the column occasionally
subsiding. The volume Of liquid mud
elected in this period overspread q tract
OF about q square mile 70 q depth varying
from seven TO fourteen feet.-New York